why can't this be my tow vehicle?

[Johnny Blaze]

You may remember a few months ago I bought a grandma fresh 1961 4 door belair.

I want to make it a tow vehicle for my dads 1955 bel air bracket car. I figure, mild big block ,air bags, disc brakes it should be fine.

I see pics all the time from 'back in the day' of guys using 57 wagons, belairs impalas etc... I even saw a pic of a guy using a 57 nomad to tow his 57 sedan jr stocker.

But when I mention doing this to the 61, everyone says, 'you can't do that, its not enough car to tow with.'

Basically, the car is a 4 door, so I really can't bring myself to really 'building it'.

I keep thinking about selling or trading it for a truck, but everyone says not to get rid of it.

So, my options are,

build a tow rig
trade it or sell it
do nothing to it

Thoughts?

[XLexusTech]

As long as you can get it to stop you should be fine

[GetMore]

I would think that it's strong enough, and your powertrain is probably stout enough to do it, but the weight of the trailer, loaded with car and equipment might actually be a bit too much.
"Back in the day" there were fewer cars on the road, and people might have been a bit more courteous, so it was possible to get away with driving a car that wouldn't stop or turn well at all. Nowadays you've got people cutting you off and expecting that when they slam on their brakes you'll be able to stop just as well as them.
I'd hook up an electric brake controller and make sure the trailer's got brakes on all axles, just to make sure it'll stop. I'd also install a lever-style adjustable proportioning valve, so you can tune the brakes for normal driving and for towing.
This brings me to the other possible safety issue: Weight distribution. Depending on the tongue weight and the distance to the rear axle you may have a problem with traction. Not on the rear wheels, but the fronts. Air bags might allow the car to maintain it's stance, but adding weight on the tongue will take weight off the nose. This can lead to disaster in a situation where you have to make a sudden turn.

I think it's possible, but you really should take a good, careful look at what you plan on doing and how it will affect the car.

[Johnny Blaze]

Sure.

I understand the ins and outs of towing.

The trailer I have now has elec brakes on both axles, axles are fairly far forward.

It pulls real nice.

If I do this, I am going to seriously look into a lightweight low boy type trailer.

[mikedc]

Agreed, I would worry about the braking capabilities of the older ride. Even if you shove a zillion pistons worth of brake calipers under there, the tire's contact patch is gonna be smaller than something newer with good towing ability.

[srh3trinity]

I have towed boats for some time and I realize that the weight distribution of a boat trailer and axle position is different than that of a car trailer. In my experience the two most important parts of towing are braking and wheelbase. I have seen the tail wag the dog a few times (usually Jeep Wranglers=bad idea). With good trailer brakes and an older sedan, you may be ok. It also depends on the distance and terrain you tow. You could always try it out on a short distance with roads known to you and see how it behaves.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

get some big power assisted wilwoods, big tires and your good.

[Kenova]

get some big power assisted wilwoods, big tires and your good.
.... and perhaps a load equalizer trailer hitch. Although I'm sure some would say it's overkill.

Ken

[BA.]

You're on Impalas.net right JB? You know the disc brakes could be had on the cheap possibly by getting interchange parts from another GM.
I didn't realize using air bags suspension was compatible with the extra weight of towing. That scares me a bit.

What are the engine plans?

It's completely do-able man, I say git'r done.

[ADaughen]

I didn't realize using air bags suspension was compatible with the extra weight of towing. That scares me a bit.



My both my grandpas run (helper) bags on their tow rigs.

East coast G-pa runs a HUGE 5th wheel camper pulled by a 1/2 Ton GMC and Colorado G-pa pulls pretty big camper with his Bank's worked F250 diesel.

[MonzaRacer]

You're on Impalas.net right JB? You know the disc brakes could be had on the cheap possibly by getting interchange parts from another GM.
I didn't realize using air bags suspension was compatible with the extra weight of towing. That scares me a bit.

What are the engine plans?

It's completely do-able man, I say git'r done.


DUDE you mean you havenever seen Air Rides Duallie tow vehicles?
Heck add in some 12 big brakes like big cars have, heck most GM big cars and trucks all used the MKD52 pad, all ya gotta do is adapt a big truck caliper up front, add in the tbig 11x3 452 read truck type shoes and you have proper JD5 brakes,,,,and like one poster said get an equalizer hitch.
If its really a dedicated tow vehicle you should be able to use the 2000lb springs instead, just remember to adapt a heavier truck shock in rear. Might make it a bit more stiff unloaded but I have helped people beef up lots of cars.
Had aguy who wanted old school long shackle look on a Nova(local cruiser) so we built laddered shackles and used longer truck shocks and guy loved the ride,, it was so high it looked kind of dorky to me but it did drive ok. Had big N50s in back,,,,you get the idea.


Besides semis have used air springs for decades.

[BA.]

Can he get the right bag size needed for towing?
I'm down with air 'Helper' bags....I could see how that could work.
I was just thinking of a pure air setup, no coils at all.
I was just *assuming* that a bag made to fit a 61 Impala wouldn't have the PSI rating (bag thickness/structure?) to support an extra 2000lb load. Just something I'd want to check into I guess.

[Bill Howell]

Sure this will work, just need the following upgrades,
1.Bigger brakes, and trailer brakes, don't skimp on either, get the good stuff
2.Decent drivetrain upgrade, including tranny cooler, oil cooler, etc, just like you would have on a towing package on a pickup.
3.A class III hitch, installed by professional, with extra metal to beef up the frame as needed as per the professional.
4.Equalizer hitch, no question.

Now, once you have done this, remember, back in the day these guys were using open trailers, with little more than the race car on the trailer, so don't think all this improvement will mean you can tow a 28' inclosed tag, just aint gonna happen.

Probably the best thing to do is sell car and buy a properly equipped pickup to do the towing, but that is not what you asked....lol

Good luck and be safe.

[MonzaRacer]

Like Isaid upgrade from F9000 series bags to the 2000lb units F9100 and use good shocks to help control rear,,,,with equalizer hitch your god to go, well upgrade brakes and such but some good searching and scrounging and big brakes would be doable too.

[surlyjoe]

Well as the guys have said with some upgrades you sould be fine. Brakes and some sort of air bag system. I tow with my 94 fleetwood quite often. Car hauler is what I tow with usually a firebird on the trailer.

Trailer design can really help to keep the tongue weight lower. Wheels closer to the front. Because as one poster mentioned too much tongue weight will cause problems. Around 300 pounds is what I shoot for.

I also tow with my 2001 suburban and now that I have it I rarely use the fleetwood for towing. I love the car but having a bigger heavier vehicle to tow with is a huge advantage. It is your choice and it definitely can be done.

[justasquid]

even with the upgrades, you may not be legal. All cars and trucks manufactured have a tow limit. In some states, even if you upgrade your vehicle, you are still are not allowed to tow over the vehicles specified max load and can be ticketed for exceeding that load.

I really have no idea how this works on a vehicle that old, but it may be something to consider. Maybe a call to the DMV ( if they don't know, they may be able to direct you to the right place) to make sure you can legally haul that much weight with a car. It would be really bad to invest the time and money only to find out you can't use it.

[Johnny Blaze]

It never seems to stop the people in minivans towing rvs or huge boats.

[ADaughen]

It never seems to stop the people in minivans towing rvs or huge boats.

There was a green Smart car towing a pop-up almost 4x the size of itself on I75 last fall. Poor car couldn't do much more than 55mph. Of course, that might have been because the passenger inside was over the max weight limit for the vehicle.

[justasquid]

It never seems to stop the people in minivans towing rvs or huge boats.

I never said it couldnt pull it or stop it. I was just offering a point of view in case you lived in a state that actually checked those things. It would really suck to put the effort and money into something and not be able to use it.

I wasnt diss'n your idea. I was just trying to point out a possible problem, which is what your post was titled.. at least thats what I took it as.

[Johnny Blaze]

I was joking.

I know I see people all the time towing with stuff the shouldn't.

The best I saw recently, in Louisville KY was a truck with a trailer that had a cavalier on it. They all had alambama plates.

The cavi was parked on the trailer. Not 1 single tie down. Nothing. It was just in park.

The stuff I see, I could never get away with!

[shortrack]

towing over the vehicles limit will lots of times only be a problem when you get in an accident.....then your insurance may not cover you.

if you want to go retro get yourself a late 60s Suburban....